'We usually ignore the little things that matter. The small details that can change a life. Those simple gestures. A simple smile of hope, a simple touch of support, a few words of strength. These small uplifting things can turn a life around.'
|| S...
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"The heart of a mother is a deep abyss, at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness." Honore de Balzac
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Laylah flicked open the file in front of her as she settled herself into a chair around the table, Penelope standing before them waiting. She took in the images first, blinking a few times before she turned to the information. She blindly reached for her coffee, looking up when the cup was placed in her hand to meet JJ's smile. She mouthed a thank you and turned back to the file, sipping from the takeaway cup as Penelope started talking.
'The Atlanta field office is asking for our help in a string of murders they've connected on the HSK database,' She stated.
'Last night the body of a John Doe was found in a truck stop rest room in Chattanooga, Tennessee,' Hotch informed them.
'And the day before, the body of sixty one year old Claire Westchester was discovered in a Birmingham, Alabama, truck stop rest room. They had both been... It's on your tablets.'
'They'd been stabbed multiples times, and they'd both been posed postmortem.'
'Well, he demeans his victims, that's for sure,' JJ stated; 'They're bound to a urinal with rope.'
'He left one hell of a calling card,' Rossi added.
'Well, the lack of blood suggests that they were killed somewhere else and then disposed of here,' Derek offered.
'The stab wounds are both shallow and deep. It could be some sort of systematic torture,' Spencer chimed.
'Well, there are no obvious signs of sexual assault,' Tara added.
'Well, he's sadistic. The stabbing could be what's getting him off,' JJ shrugged.
'But he doesn't stop there. He removed their left ears,' Laylah read as Spencer stood and pressed a button on the remote.
'He could be keeping them as a trophy,' Tara glanced to her colleagues.
The disposal sites are a hundred and forty seven point six miles apart. He probably thought by crossing state lines he'd prevent the authorities from connecting the two murders,' Spencer announced.
'Well, I hate to state the obvious, but we're most likely looking for a truck driver,' Derek concluded.
'Atlanta is one of the country's top long-haul hubs. It's one of the few cities in America serviced by three major interstates.'
'There are hundreds of open cases on the HSK database, and finding this unsub is going to be like finding a needle in a haystack,' Tara sighed.
'With the ability to move around the nation, there's nothing to suggest he'll stop anytime soon. Wheels up in thirty,' Hotch stood.
